turquoise blue. It shows from a great distance as its heavenly blue
meets the eye. When arranged in a vase with white flowers it makes the
most beautiful, choice and refined bouquet we know of. The Formosum is a
lovely dark blue and very striking. Give them plenty of water and some
wood ashes to keep off the slugs. Cut off the stalks after blooming,
about August first, and they will bloom again in autumn. We had this
year a large clump of Madonna lilies and next to them a large bunch of
larkspur. The effect was stunning. Just before the larkspur came the
whole north end of the garden was aflame with Oriental poppies, hundreds
of them. No other flower produces the effect upon one that this great
proud, wonderful flower does. It is the queen of the show. We transplant
this in September in ordinary soil. Or we sow the seeds in August and
transplant the seedlings as soon as up. They need no protection, but we
protect everything with straw and branches. The branches to keep the
straw from packing too hard and keeping the air out. Protection of
roses is necessary, of course. We had a great collection this season.
Our plan is to cut them back to within a foot of the ground then fill a
box with leaves and turn over them. We never lose a rose thus protected.
Neither sun nor mice injure them.
Another grand flower is Digitalis, or foxglove. These gladden your heart
as the medicine made from them strengthens it. Get the mixed plants or
seed, Gloxinia flora. When in bloom, look into their little gloves and
note the wonder of nature's coloring. With us they grow six feet tall in
black, heavy soil. They self-sow, and the plants of the present year
bloom the next. A bed of these make a most gorgeous, dignified group in
your garden. They are hardy with a very slight covering. Many with us
self-sow and live through the winter without any protection. We made up
a bed of these self-sowed in fall of 1915. They were a glory this
summer. A few years ago every one said, don't waste your time on
Japanese Iris. They thrive with us and bear blooms fully as large as a
tea plate and of most exquisite beauty. We divide them every third year
and in the spring cover them with old fertilizer and water them well.
They grow in a heavy soil with some sand worked in. Our best varieties
are Oriole, Distinction, Alice Kiernga, Beauty of Japan and Blue Flag.
The Gladiolus is another bright and interesting addition to our floral
family. The best we have are Marie de Ruyter, a pretty blue; Badenia,
lavender; Golden King, a magnificent yellow; Florence, lilac blotched;
Mazie, corn color; and Dawn, shell pink. Plant these bulbs in
succession, three weeks apart, from April first, six inches deep, so
they will stand up, and eighteen inches between rows. In this way you
will have them until frost. For the house cut them when first bud comes
out, and they will all blossom in water.
A flower which attracts much attention with us is the Canterbury Bell,
cup and saucer variety, in different colors. Very showy. This is not a
perennial but a biennial. We plant our seeds in July and transplant in
September or October. The Persicifolia in white and blue is a hardy
perennial and grows on stalks two to three feet high, a great favorite
among white flowers. In some soils they do not do well, but with us grow
rampant. We prefer the white. We cut over two thousand stalks this
summer from one hundred fifty plants.
Of Tulips, which are so welcome in early spring, the Darwin leads all.
We love them as we do the Stars of Bethlehem, the Hyacinths, Narcissi
and the darling little blue flowers, Scilla Siberica, that come with the
Snowdrops and Crocuses before the snow is gone. We thus have bloom from
snow to snow. Always something bright, and that is another strong reason
for a perennial garden.
We have many calls from persons wishing to buy plants or seeds. We do
not sell either, but gladly give away our surplus. We have furnished
many gardens in this way all about us and thus added to the beauty of
the surrounding country and made ourselves and others happy. Our
collection of Lilies, Auratums, Speciosums, Tigers, Madonnas, are all
planted six to eight inches deep and, after spreading manure are covered
with straw, after frost. We cover all bulb beds with manure in the fall.
Among lilies all but the Auratums last years, but these lose their
vitality in two or three seasons. Plant all lilies in fall except
Madonnas, which should be put in in August. Two fine flowers we would
recommend to flower lovers: the Amaryllis Hallii, or, as we call it, the
wonder flower, which grows a large bunch of leaves in spring and in June
they all die down. In August there springs up a single stalk from the
apparently dead plant, bearing a lily-like bunch of flowers of charming
colors. It is as hardy as an oak. The other is the Dictamnus, or gas
plant. Most beautiful and very hardy. Get one white and one pink and
plant near each other. They are fine. Of course we have named but a
small part of our collection, but will be glad to give any further
information to our Horticulturist readers and will be glad to welcome
them at our grounds any time.
* * * * *
CANNING FRUITS WITHOUT SIRUP.--Can the product the same day it
is picked. Cull, stem, or seed, and clean the fruit by placing it in a
strainer and pouring water over it until it is clean. Pack the product
thoroughly in glass jars or tin cans until they are full; use the handle
of a tablespoon, wooden ladle, or table knife for packing purposes. Pour
over the fruit boiling water from a kettle, place rubbers and caps in
position, partially seal if using glass jars, seal completely if using
tin cans. Place the containers in a sterilizing vat, such as a wash
boiler with false bottom, or other receptacle improvised for the
purpose. If using a hot-water bath outfit, process for 30 minutes; count
time after the water has reached the boiling point; the water must cover
the highest jar in container. After sterilizing seal glass jars, wrap in
paper to prevent bleaching, and store in a dry, cool place.
If you are canning in tin cans it will improve the product to plunge the
cans quickly into cold water immediately after sterilization. When using
a steam pressure canner instead of the hot-water bath, sterilize for 10
minutes with 5 pounds of steam pressure. Never allow the pressure to go
over 10 pounds.
The Minnesota State Fruit-Breeding Farm.
CHAS. HARALSON, SUPT., EXCELSIOR.
The Minnesota State Fruit-Breeding Farm was established eight years ago,
principally for breeding new varieties of fruit adapted to our climate
and conditions. The aim of this work is to assist the people in getting
better commercial varieties of the various fruits grown in the state, so
that better returns could be secured for the people engaged in the
various lines of fruit growing. Some of the plant-breeding work is
beginning to show results, a few varieties of fruit are being
distributed in a small way for trial in different localities.
A great deal of work has been done with apples. Seedlings have been
grown by the thousands every year with the idea of selecting some
desirable varieties when the trees come into fruiting. Hardiness of
tree, long keeping and good quality of fruit are the most desirable
points we are looking for in our selections. A great deal of crossing
under glass is being done with apples; a number of seedlings, the
results of this crossing work, are planted every spring.
Some of the six thousand Malinda apple seedlings planted seven years ago
have fruited to some extent for the last three years. These show a great
variation in fruit, both in color, quality and long keeping. Some of the
fruit ripens with the Duchess, while others will keep until spring in
good condition. There is a chance for some desirable varieties out of
this lot, but it will take several years to determine whether we have
anything better than the Wealthy. The Wealthy is by far our best
commercial variety, but we are looking for something that will keep
until spring.
Gooseberries and currants are easily raised and are perfectly hardy with
us, but we are working to get some improvement on these varieties. Many
thousand seedlings are being grown for this purpose. Our native
gooseberries are used in breeding work with the cultivated varieties to
a great extent, as they are hardy, strong growers and resistant to
mildew.
As to cherries, we have none that are satisfactory. Some work has been
carried on for several years, but we have not obtained anything of
special value so far. The most promising combinations are Compass cherry
crossed with the cultivated varieties. None of these have fruited, but
we have some hope for a hardy cherry from these seedlings.
Peaches and apricots are not hardy in Minnesota, and consequently nobody
thinks of planting them. Some years ago we started crossing the sand
cherry with peaches and apricots. The results were a number of
seedlings, but all turned out to be worthless; the trees after several
years growth were small, or grew mostly in bush form. They blossomed
every spring but never set any fruit on account of some imperfection in
the flowers. Four years ago we started to use the Compass cherry as the
male parent, and this combination is more promising. The seedlings make
a good growth and a fairly good sized tree, practically as hardy as the
Compass cherry. The seedlings resemble the apricots and peaches in
blossom, tree and foliage. This fruit will not be exactly an apricot or
a peach, but may take the place of these fruits in a small way.
[Illustration: No. 7 Hybrid Seedling Plum--from Minnesota State
Fruit-Breeding Farm, at Zumbra Heights.]
The Compass cherry crossed with Prunus Pissardi, or purple leaf plum, is
a very interesting combination. We have about fifty seedlings growing.
Most of them have the purple foliage and bark, are very ornamental and
can be used with effect for lawns and landscape planting where large
shrubs are wanted.
The grapes. The Vitis Labrusca, such as Concord, Worden, Moore's Early
and many other varieties, are not hardy unless protected during winter.
There is a demand for hardy grapes that do not need any winter
protection. At the Fruit-Breeding Farm this problem has been taken up on
a large scale. The Beta grape is hardy but lacks in size and quality.
This variety has been used to grow many thousands of seedlings from, and
also used in cross-breeding with the better varieties. A large percent
of Beta seedlings come true to seed or nearly so. This gives us several
hundred varieties equal to Beta, and some of them are quite an
improvement in size and quality over the parent and practically as hardy
as the wild grape. Many of these are worthy of propagation where
hardiness is the main object. Very few of the hybrid grape seedlings
have fruited, but indications are that in a few years we will have
grapes equal in size and quality to any of our commercial varieties.
Experiments are being carried on in a small way with pears, roses and
nuts. Our native hazelnuts can be improved by selection and crossing
with the filberts. The same is true with the Rosa Rugosa and our native
roses.
In breeding strawberries we probably have had better success than with
any other fruit we have attempted to improve. The breeding work was done
in the greenhouse during winter and early spring and seed planted as
soon as berries were ripe. The plants were transplanted to flats and
later planted out in the field, where they remained until fruiting, when
the selections were made. We have fruited approximately 60,000
seedlings. These have been weeded out so there are about 400 left, and
these will be cut down to a few of the best varieties. At present we
have one everbearing and one June-bearing variety which have proven to
be very productive, of good size, good quality and good plantmakers.
These plants have been sent out as premiums to members of the State
Horticultural Society for the last two years and will be distributed the
same way next spring.
In raspberries we have several varieties which are promising. King x
Loudan, No. 4, is a variety that has been sent out as premium the last
three years. This variety is amongst the hardiest, the berries are dark
red, very large and the most productive of all the varieties growing on
the place. This has also been sent out as premium through the
Horticultural Society.
In plums we probably have had the best success. Some of the first
breeding work was with Burbank x (crossed with) Wolf and Abundance x
Wolf. We have twenty-eight seedlings of Burbank x Wolf and forty-five
Abundance x Wolf which have fruited several years. We have varying
degrees of hardiness in these seedlings. Most of them have withstood our
winters at the fruit farm without injury, as well as in most of the
southern half of the state.
Among the Abundance x Wolf hybrids eight of the seedlings are only
partly hardy, while of the Burbank x Wolf only one or two have shown
themselves to be particularly weak in this respect.
Type of fruit. In general the Burbank type of fruit is dominant. The
flesh of these hybrids runs quite uniformly yellow, varying in degrees,
however, from a deep yellow to a yellowish green. Some of them have a
yellow skin with a blush or a streak of red, while others are a deep red
even before ripe. The fruit in size varies from both smaller and larger
than the parents. Firmness characterises most of the hybrids. We are
also getting good shipping quality, and in Burbank x Wolf No. 12 we have
a plum measuring one and three-quarters inches and more in diameter and
a perfect freestone. This plum will be used extensively in further
plant-breeding.
In shape of tree the two hybrids differ materially. The Burbank x Wolf
hybrids make spreading trees more or less, while the Abundance x Wolf
grows more upright and does not need quite as much room.
* * * * *
TENT CATERPILLAR.--As soon as small nests are detected, they
should be destroyed. When in convenient reach, the nests may be torn out
with a brush, with gloved hand, or otherwise, and the larvae crushed on
the ground, care being taken to destroy any caterpillars which have
remained on the tree.
The use of a torch to burn out the nests will be found convenient when
they occur in the higher parts of the trees. In using the torch great
care is necessary that no important injury be done to the tree; it
should not be used in burning out nests except in the smaller branches
and twigs, the killing of which would be of no special importance. Nests
in the larger limbs should be destroyed by hand, as the use of the torch
may kill the bark, resulting in permanent injury.
Tent caterpillars are readily destroyed by arsenicals sprayed on the
foliage of trees infested by them. Any of the arsenical insecticides may
be used, as Paris green, Scheele's green, arsenate of lead, etc. The
first two are used at the rate of one-half pound to 50 gallons of water.
The milk of lime made from 2 to 3 pounds of stone lime should be added
to neutralize any caustic effect of the arsenical on the foliage.
Arsenate of lead is used at the rate of 2 pounds to each 50 gallons of
water.
On stone fruits, such as cherry, peach, and plum, arsenicals are likely
to cause injury to foliage and must be used with caution if at all. On
such trees the arsenate of lead is preferable, as it is less injurious
to foliage, and on all trees sticks much better. In spraying for the
tent caterpillar only, applications should be made while the
caterpillars are yet small, as they then succumb more quickly to poisons
than when more nearly full grown, and prompt treatment stops further
defoliation of the trees.--U. S. Dept. Agri.
Color Combinations in the Garden.
MISS ELIZABETH STARR, 2224 FREMONT SO., MINNEAPOLIS.
English books on gardening set forth two principal methods of making a
garden: first, to have each part perfect for a short time each year and
then let it melt into the background for the rest of the season; second,
to have every part of the garden showing some flowers all through the
summer.
These two methods suggest the impressionistic and miniature schools of
painting. With the first method it is possible to get great masses of
color and brilliant effects to be viewed at a distance, but it requires
a great deal of space, with a perennial garden at least, for
unfortunately most of our perennials are in their greatest glory for
only a few weeks at a time. The second method fills more nearly the
needs of the small garden, where the vistas are short and the individual
plant is under close inspection. The greatest difficulty is this, that
the amateur cannot resist the lure of a great variety of plants, and
unless a vigorous thinning out is faithfully practiced and the habit of
growth, the period of blooming, the height and color of each individual
is carefully studied, the effect of the whole is very apt to be mussy
and distracting to the eye, whereas the ideal garden is soothing in
effect.
I have only been studying the problem for the last five or six years, so
that I am still decidedly an amateur, but I have kept a faithful record
of the time of flowering of each variety I have grown in my garden and
have discovered that the time of blooming does not vary more than five
days for each plant no matter whether the season be wet or dry. With
this record at hand I can arrange each part of my garden with a view to
the succession of bloom throughout the summer. I can place plants with
clashing colors side by side with the calm assurance that they will not
clash because their periods of blooming do not overlap. In this way I
can completely change the color of certain parts of my garden during the
summer if I so desire.
In studying combinations for the garden we must take into consideration
the harmony and contrast of color, texture, form, height and the
succession of bloom. We must also see that plants requiring the same
soil and the same care are put together. In my garden I use both annuals
and perennials but am limited in choice to those plants that are
perfectly hardy, that will stand infinite neglect, drought, much wind, a
stiff soil, that do not require especial protection in the winter, that
will be in bloom all summer long and be beautiful. This, as I have
found, is a rather difficult task.
[Illustration: Perennial border. Edging of pinks and Shasta daisies,
pink canterbury bells and Festiva Maxima peony. Behind, pyrethrum,
uliginosum and hollyhocks. Blue flowering flax adds depth to the pink
and white.]
There is a great diversity of opinion as to how to set out plants. Some
say, "Give each plant plenty of room; let it expand as much as it will."
Others say, "Each six inches of ground should have its plant; set them
so closely that no dirt will show between; in this way each individual
plant will be finer than when set out singly and the leaves will form a
shade for the ground." I have used the latter method, for, since we have
no means of watering, the conservation of moisture is an important item.
The chief objection is that there is a constant danger of overcrowding,
and it requires a frequent resetting of plants as they increase in size
from year to year.
[Illustration: Yellow iris against the blue of distant hills.]
I have a border on the north side of my garden that is six feet wide and
about seventy feet long. It is my aim to keep this in bloom all through
the summer long. There is a background of purple and white lilacs and
cut-leaf spirea. The first thing that comes in the spring is poet's
narcissus, then groups of Darwin tulips; both of these are naturalized
and remain in the ground from year to year. Next comes the perennial
blue flax, a half dozen plants set at intervals down the border, that
every morning from mid-April until August are a mass of blue. Clumps of
May-flowering iris and then June-flowering iris and four large peony
plants make the border bright until the latter part of June, when
alternating groups of field daisies and pink and red sweet williams are
in full bloom at one end of the border, and summer-flowering cosmos
holds sway at the other end, while the flax, bachelor's buttons and
daisies fill the center with blue and white. By the middle of July the
calendulas, coreopsis and annual larkspur make a vivid display where the
narcissus was before. These four make a very good combination, for if
the bed is well made and the narcissus planted deep, the coreopsis and
larkspur seed themselves, and with the exception of a deep raking in the
late fall the bed needs no attention except thinning out for three
years, and it is in bloom for at least four months of the season.
[Illustration: Pink and white pinks, field and Shasta daisies,
canterbury bells and hollyhocks.]
In this border I have at last found a place for the magenta phlox that
usually fights with the whole garden. I put it in front of a single row
of pink and white cosmos, flank it on one side with pink and white
verbenas, on the other with mixed scabiosas and in front of all a single
row of Shasta daisies. This combination pleases the family as well as
the phlox.
On the south side of the garden, against a low buckthorn hedge is a
narrower border of sky-blue belladonna, delphinium, buttercups and
achillea, with an edging of Chinese pinks. I had thought the
complementary colors of the delphinium and buttercups would set each
other off, but it is a very poor combination, for the foliage is so much
alike that there is no contrast there, and when the plants are not in
bloom it is almost impossible to tell which is which so as to take out
the buttercups, whose yellow is too bright. Shasta daisies set off the
delphiniums to perfection with the wonderful purity of their white and
yellow and pleasing contrast of form, foliage and height. With Emperor
narcissus bulbs set between the plants, there are flowers in the border
the whole season.
Another very poor combination that is in my garden, much to my sorrow,
is hemerocallis and siberica iris. They started out about three feet
from each other, but the hemerocallis spreads so quickly that now they
form a mass that is almost impossible to break apart. Another mistake I
made was to put Shasta daisies and field daisies near together. It is
unfair to the smaller daisies, for although they are fully two inches in
diameter, yet they appear dwarfed beside the giants.
There is one point in my garden that is vivid throughout the summer.
First comes the orange lilium elegans, then scarlet lychnis and later,
tiger lilies. Another bit is gorgeous from the first of August until
frost; it is made up of blue and white campanula pyramidalis, that grow
quite five feet high, and Mrs. Francis King gladioli.
An important thing to think of is the line of vision from each point of
vantage of the house--the endwise view of a multicolored bed of fairy
columbines against a light green willow from the sewing room window,
from the library the blue of a Juniata iris swaying four feet up in the
air in front of a sweet briar, from the front porch pale yellow
Flavescens iris through a mist of purple sweet rockets.
The garden is in its glory during the iris season. At a conservative
estimate we have about twenty-five hundred of them in our little garden,
ranging through all the colors of the rainbow and blooming from April
until late June. They may easily make such an increase that it is
baffling to cope with, but they are so beautiful and so amenable to the
experimenting of an amateur that we feel as though we couldn't get
enough of them. Last summer a wonderful effect was achieved by putting
dark blue and mahogany-colored pansies beside Jacquesiana and Othello
iris, this repeating the color and texture in different plants.
[Illustration: Rocky Mountain columbine against the willow hedge, with
perennial candytuft as edging.]
We leave the garden through a wooden arch. Climbing over one side of
this is a Thousandschon rose, and on the other side a Dr. Van Fleet
grows rank. A wild clematis is planted beside each rose and fills the
top of the arch. I am rather dubious about the combination, for I fear
the clematis may grow so heavy that it will choke out the roses, but
this summer at least it was beautiful, and another summer will come to
try other combinations.
Truck Crop and Garden Insects.
AN EXERCISE LED BY PROF. WM. MOORE, ENTOMOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT, UNIVERSITY
FARM, ST. PAUL.